What the little girl describes as Gascoigne ”forgetting” his family is more accurately the beginning of Gascoigne’s descent into the madness and bloodlust that accompanies the affliction of the beastly scourge. He is not only forgetting his family, but also losing his humanity entirely. It is only the familiar tune of the music box, entrenched in his mind after a lifetime of repeated listens, that can drag him back to the shreds of humanity that remain within his blood.
Viola was more than “silly” to go out without the music box, as we can see from her bloodied corpse which lies upon the rooftop beneath the red jeweled brooch. Without the hypnotic tune of the music box to keep the blood thirst at bay, Gascoigne gored into his wife Viola with a beastly rage, ending her life and leaving their two precious little girls orphaned.
If the player has the emotional grit to be the bearer of bad news, the little girl’s story can be continued by returning to her with the red jeweled brooch. Upon receiving the brooch she begins to cry as she says, “Mister hunter… Was it really her? Mummy… mummy… Don’t leave me alone.” After this, the girl will no longer continue to respond. If the player leaves the area and comes back to the window, she will be gone entirely. But where could she have gone?
If the player continues past the little girl’s window, down the ladders, and into the sewers, he/she will encounter a giant pig. This is the same giant pig that guards the area where the Saw Hunter Badge can be found. However, this time there is something different about the pig. Upon the pig’s death after giving Gascoigne’s daughter the red jeweled brooch, it will drop an item called red messenger ribbon.
It’s as bad as it sounds; the description reads, “”Red ribbon that messengers are oddly fond of. The thick, pungent red was drawn from the organs of some unfortunate Victim. A strange choice indeed. but perhaps for the messengers wearing this accessory constitutes a form of mourning.” Filled with despair upon the receiving the news of her deceased mother, the little girl ran away from home, searching for safety and companionship, yet instead was met only with death at the hooves of a beastly hog.
But that’s not all folks. If the player holds on to the red messenger ribbon and returns to the little girl’s window after killing Rom The Vacuous Spider, there will be another interactive NPC waiting there, who just so happens to be the little girl’s older sister. She says, “Oh, you haven’t by chance… seen my little sister, have you? I told her to look after the house, but she’s run off somewhere. She’s still quite small, and wears a big white ribbon. Have you seen her out there anywhere?”
Unfortunately, we have seen her ribbon, but it isn’t white anymore. Upon handing the older sister the red messenger ribbon she says, “Oh, how did this happen… Why would she ever go outside? At least… I’ll have something to remember her by.” After the Hunter walks away, the sister mutters, “”What a perfect ribbon, and now it’s mine. I can’t wait to try it on.” From her tone, it’s obvious that she was mentally shattered the second she saw that blood soaked ribbon. Her feigned optimism can only be a dark foreshadowing of more bad news to come.
If the Hunter leaves the area and then returns, the sister will no longer be in the window. But where did she go? The Hunter climbs down the ladder next to the now abandoned window and the answer is sprawled out across the floor at the bottom. Can you guess who?
It’s the older sister, too filled with grief over the loss of her family to continue on living. It appears that she jumped from the ladder and committed suicide. While it’s possible that she fell accidentally or was killed by a beast, it would seem that given the preceding events, she must have known leaving the house meant death. Upon her corpse lies a white messenger ribbon. It appears that she washed the blood off the red ribbon the Hunter gave her earlier. The white ribbon is described as, “White ribbon that messengers are oddly fond of. A ribbon made of fine lace that shines remarkably, more suited to pretty young girls than silly old messengers.”
Update: There has been another theory going around that the second girl claiming to be the older sister is lying and is not part of Gascoigne’s family at all. The evidence for this is that the younger girl mentions loving her mother, father, and granddad, but does not say anything about also having a sister. In this scenario, the older girl would be a neighbor who lived at the bottom of the ladder who had always coveted the little girl’s white ribbon. She would have waited for the little girl to leave, searched for the ribbon, encountered the Hunter, acquired the ribbon, and died being attacked or by falling down the ladder on her way to back to her house. This is also supported by the older girl’s mutterings about how she can’t wait to try on the ribbon. Both are good theories and it is difficult to tell which one is correct, if that is even determinable.
While this brings the story of all Gascoigne’s immediate family members to a bloody end, there is still one more loose end in the Father Gascoigne tragedy: Henryk. Henryk is a hunter that can only be encountered along the Eileen the Crow NPC Quest Line.
When slain, Henryk’s armor can be purchased from the Insight Bath Messenger, providing more detail into his character. The description of his garb reads, “Hunter’s attire worn by Henryk, the old hunter. The taciturn old hunter Henryk was once partners with Father Gascoigne, and though they were a fierce and gallant duo, their partnership led to Henryk’s tragically long life. Henryk’s unique yellow garb is resistant to bolt and will be of great help to any hunter who has inherited the onus of the hunt.”
So Gascoigne and Henryk were partners, but is it possible that they were more than that? There’s one clue that suggest Henryk was either a family friend considered to be family or was actually Viola’s father and therefore the Grandfather of Gascoigne’s children. If the Hunter sends the little sister to Oedon Chapel instead of giving her the brooch she says, “Yes okay, thank you very much mister hunter! I love you almost as much as mum and dad, and grandad!”
From this line, many fans have speculated that the person she sees as her granddad is indeed Henryk, whether he is actually Viola’s father or just Gascoigne’s partner. So at this point, not only will you have been the one responsible for killing her father, but also her grandfather.
No happy endings here. Just gore followed by more gore. Classic Bloodborne. If you’re interested in finding out more about Bloodborne’s lore, check out our article, Bloodborne’s Hidden Back Story Finally Explained and feel free to share your own interpretations of the lore in the comments.
